Player-piano action.



S. S. DONOVAN. PLAYER PIANO ACTION. APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1911.

1,022,066. Patented Apr. 2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-433E111 1.

I awue/wtoz 1 wii'meooeoz 5100/5'01 174/ W 3.91; zJQHM/M S s.s.DON0 AN PLAYER PIANO ACTION.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1911. 1,()22 ()66 Patented Apr. 2, 1912' 2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

l lljl a id-Ed ll @FldlliCE.

SILAS S. DONOVAN, OF MERIIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WELCOX & W'HITE COMPANY, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

PLAYER-PIANO ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 12, 1911,

Serial No. 620,588.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, SILAS S. Donovan, a citizen of the United States, residing at llleriden, New Haven county, State of lonnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Player-Piano Actions. of which the following is a full, clear, and exact. description. 1

My invention relates to improvements in player piano actions which are. al 'ang'ed to be operated either by the usual keys of a keyboard or by mechanically actuatedstrikers. I y

The object of the invention is to provide means to prevent undue lost motion in the action a result oi the settlement of the key-bed or padding down of the tclts after long continued use, this feature of the in vention being of particular value in an in strument in which there is combined therein mechanically actuated strikers.

I will show my invention as applied to a well-known type of player piano action, therefore, as to such parts as constitute part of the known art, it will be unnecesary for me to describe atlength the particular con struction and details thereof.

- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a combined manually and mechanically controllable action ot a piano, in this instance of the upright type, although, of course, the same niinciple can be readily adapted to one of the horizontal type. Fig. 2 is a relatively enlarged detail view of certain parts. Fig. 3 is a perspec tive view or a detail.

1 represents a string; a. hammer; 3 a damper; 4- a jack; 5 a lJLIClC-Cl1QCl'; 6 a been stop cooperating with said check; 7 a wippcn; 8 an abstract; 9 n' anually operable key; 10 an adjusting device between the key 9 and the lower end of the ahstrac" 8, said adjustingdevice being customarily a capstan screw.

11' is a pad underlying and supporting theinncr end of the key 9', 12 is a lu on the abstract: 8 which carries an adjustable regulating button ll.

15 isa striker mechanically actuated in any desired way as by a crank 16 which in turn may be operated by an action pneumatic 17 (Fig. 2).

18 isa felt pad between the striker and the regulating button 14.

i9 is a padded hammer rail.

As to the parts thus far described, the

same are well-known details of a player piano action and hence, as to such details, 1t

is unnecessary to describe the same further, it being, sutlicient to say that whenever the outer end of the key 9 is depressed manually, it will cause the hammer 2 to properly advance and s'rike the string, the damper 3 bein simultaneously lifted from the string; and whenci'er the pneumatic 1'? is collapsed, it will cause a similar movement of said hammer.

In actions of this type, it has been found that in time the key-bed sometimes settles and the supporting felt, particularly the felt ll, padded down. This sagging or pad ding -down of this particular lelt disturbs the regulation of the action and it is for this reason that an adjustablecapstan screw 10 is provided to correct said regulation. When the action is properly regulated, the operation of every hai'nmcr and damper is uniform and every hammer will be. properly caught by the back-choc I 5 to prevent the improper action of the hammer which sometimes is so far improper as to cause, among other things, the hammer to give a distinct double blow to the string. In the proper regulation of a combined manually and mechanically actuated piano action, when the capstan screw 10 properly adjusted, the very slightest pressure at th outer end of the key 9 will start. the ha minor. in other words, at this point there should be absolutely no lost motion, llilh the mechanical action, however, there is a distinctly dillercnt adjustment. instead of having the striker 15 touch the regulating button 14- of the ab stract under normal conditions, there is a slight clearance provided bet eon said parts for the express purpose of providing a little lost motion at this point, thereby allowing for any tendency of the. felt 18 to swell, and also guaranteeing a proper repetition which can only be reliably effected when the back check 5 coacts properly with the hammer 2 ll rough the stop (3. This fact is well understood by mechanics skilled in the art. From the foregoing it will be seen that in order to get the best results it is of great importance to maintain this clearance between the mechanical striker and the abstract. It will now be apparent thatif the key-bed settles or if the felt 11 is padded down it would,

"unless guarded against, permit the abstract to settle to a point where the proper clearance between the aforesaid parts would not be afforded, which clearance, if varied, im-

pairs the regulation to a corresponding extent, and to a similar extent renders the action of the hammer imperfect. To guarantee a uniformity of the spacing between the mechanical striker and the abstract 8, when the instrument is to be played mechanically, I provide an auxiliary support which may be moved into place and which, when in place, restoreseach element of the piano action to its original regulation even 'though the key-bed has sagged or the felts have been padded. This-support may be constructed in a variety of ways, but I have shown herein a simple and effective device, comprising a swinging shelf 20, which, in

this instance, is pivoted at 21 uponany suit-' This shelf 20 extends under able support. as many individual key actions as desired or as practicable in the particular piano to which it is applied, and its function is to raise the outer end of the wippen 7 to the desired, or originally regulated, position from which it may have settled for any of the reasons aforesaid. In this particular tween the wippen and the inner end of the key 9. This supporting shelf 20 may be operated in any well known manner, but a preferred method of operation would involve a connection between said shelf and such part of the instrument as is operated as an incident preparatory to operating the instrument mechanically. For example, in many pianos the front of the case is provided with a so-called hinged key-slip 23,which is utilized as one of a variety of means for concealing expression devices (not shown) when the instrument is not being employed for mechanical operation; When such a hinged key-slip is employed as shown in the drawings,-Fig. 2, there maybe arranged between said key-slip and said supporting shelf suitable connecting mechanism whereby the mere act of turning down the keyslip will move the shelf 20 from the position shown in dotted lines to that shown in solid lines. In the drawings I have shown one preferred means, which comprises a slide 24 having a cam or incline 25 which supports a slide bar 26, the upper end of which engages with the shelf 20 or an extension 27 thereon, so as to lift the latter and swing the shelf inthe manner described. The two positions of the slide 26L and the associated parts are indicated in solid and dotted lines respectively in Fig. 2. When the upright slide bar 26 descends, the shelf 20 will likewise swing down by gravity, or said movement may be assisted by a spring 28. i

It should be understood, of course, that there are various intervening constructions in action mechanism between the hammer proper and the key and the striker, and that in a broad sense this invention should not be regarded as being limited to the particular system of intervening construction herein illustrated since the samewidely vary. I have found that when the instrument has been once regulated properly with the lost motion taken up between the key and .the hammer and the proper lost motion afforded between the hammer and the striker that it is seldom necessary to correct the regulation to adjust more than the capstan screw, since in most all cases the lost regulation, socalled, occurs from one or the other of the two causes originally mentioned, namely, thesagging of the key-bed or the padding down of the felt which supports the inner end of the key. The otherpieces of felt commonly employed in action mechanism are all so comparatively thin and carry such comparatively' small weight that padding down at such points is comparatively insignificant; however, in this as in most piano actions, I may provide the usual adjusting devices as shown at the various padded points for taking up any variation in the thickness of the padding at any one or more of such points.

What I claim is:

1. In a player piano action, a hammer, manually controllable means for operating said hammer, mechanically controllable regulated means for operating said hammer, intervening parts between said hammer and each of said operating means for transmitting movement of either to said hammer, adjustable regulating means for the manually controllable hammer operating means, and independent means for restoring the regula tion between the hammer and the mechanical operating means therefor. in the event of settlement of said manually controllable hammer operating means, and means for moving said regulation restoring means into operation when the instrument is to be played mechanically, and for moving said regulation restoring means out of operation when the instrument is to be played manually.

2. In a player piano action, a hammer, manually controllable means for operating said hammer, mechanically controllable regulated means for operating said hammer, intervening parts between said hammer and each of said operating means for transmitting movement of either to said hammer,

adjustable regulating means for the manually controllable hammer operating means means independent of the hammer an striker for restoring the regulation between the hammer and the mechanical operating means therefor in the event of settlement of the manually controllable hammer operating 'means. v

' 3. In a player piano action, a hammer, means for operating the same including a manually operable key and a mechanically operable striker, intervening parts between the hammer and both of said operating devices, said parts including a wippen, adjustable means for regulating the position of the striker relatively to said wippen, other adjustable regulatin means for said key, and a manuall contro lable means for taking up lost regulation between 'said wippen and striker when the instrument is to be played mechanically and in the event of settlement of the key adjustment.

4. In a player piano action, a plurality of hammers, a plurality of manually operable keys for operating said hammers, a plurality of mechanically operable strikers for operating the hammers independently of the keys, intervening parts between all of said hammers and all of said operating devices for transmitting the movement of the latter to said hammers, a device for regulating the operative position of each of the keys relatively to its respective hammer, another device for regulating the operative position of each of the strikers relatively to its respective hammer, and a manually operable takeup device arranged to co-act with the parts between a plurality of the hammers and their respective strikers to reestablish the regulation between said hammers and strikers in the event of lost regulation between said regulation.

' 5. In a player piano action, a hammer,

parts due to settlement of the key manually controllable means for operating said hammer, mechanically controllable regulated means for operating said hammer, intervening parts between said hammer and each of said operating means for transmitting the movement of either'to said hammer, adjustable regulating means for the man ually controllable hammer operating means, independent means for restoring the regulation between the hammer and the mechanical operating means therefor in the event of settlement of the key regulation and means for moving said regulation restoring means into operative position when the instrument is to be played mechanically, and for moving said regulation restoring means out of operative position. when the instrument is to be played manually, said means comprising a hinged key slip. SILAS S. DONOVAN. lVitnesses: f

RUSSELL H. WHITE, FRANK C. WHITE. 

